The 49ers are where the Raiders were three years ago – drastically undermanned, in the midst of unrelenting losing, and with Fort Knox-like money under the salary cap. Obviously, the 10-2 Raiders have made the right moves in hiring coach Jack Del Rio, drafting players like Derek Carr and Amari Cooper, and acquiring players like …

Like Akers, Dawson, 38, is a decorated veteran who ranks among the NFL’s all-time leaders in field-goal percentage (12th at 84.0). Unlike Akers, though, he had perhaps the best season of his career in 2012: Dawson ranked second in the league in field-goal percentage (93.5) and made 13 of 13 attempts from 40-plus yards. His lone misses in a 29-of-31 season were a 28-yard attempt that was blocked and a 39-yard attempt in Cleveland’s regular-season finale. …

The restructured contract provides additional salary-cap room for San Francisco, which cut the 2013 salary of wide receiver Mario Manningham by $1.8 million last week. Manningham tore two knee ligaments on Dec. 23 and is not expected to be ready for the start of training camp. …

San Francisco, which received a compensatory pick in the fourth round (No. 131 overall) and two more in the seventh round (Nos. 246 and 252), has a league-high 14 picks. Among those picks are five top-100 selections and seven picks in the first four rounds. …

Given their similar pedigree (small college, undrafted, resembles Blue Collar Guy from central casting), Skuta has been compared to Bears special-teams dynamo Blake Costanzo, who starred with the 49ers in 2011. …

It’s doubtful the World Baseball Classic will ever live up to its billing and draw all of the world’s greatest players, dropping a myriad of spring-training concerns to make it their No. 1 priority.Fixin…

Smith finished his second NFL season on prolonged sack-less drought, which began three weeks after he first appeared on the team’s injury report on Nov. 21 with a shoulder injury. Smith posted 4 ½ sacks in his next three games, but didn’t have another sack in San Francisco’s final six contests, a stretch that included the playoffs. …

As noted here, Delmas, 25, has a recent history of knee problems, which could have had the 49ers proceeding with caution. Delmas also visited the Rams this week, but didn’t sign their contract offer. Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post Dispatch said, via Twitter, the Rams were wary of Delmas’ knee problems and only offered a one-year deal. …

Skuta, 26, has started four games in his four-year career while carving out his primary role as a special-teams standout. He tied for third in the NFL last year with 15 special-teams tackles, according to Pro Football Focus. …